2007 Nissan Maxima

Description

Nissan's Maxima wasn't the first fast four-door, but it did help popularize the "four-door sports car" concept back in the mid-late '80s. At that time, large sedans were typically doughy, ill-handling family-type cars of the Caprice/Taurus type with overstuffed seats and underpowered engines. The Maxima's powerful overhead cam V-6, excellent suspension, driver-focused interior layout, and (perhaps most important of all) available manual transmission presented an automotive oasis to buyers who had to have the extra pair of doors for family or work reasons, but didn't want the middle-aged spread that tended to come with them.

Fast-forward to the present and the Maxima now has lots of company. Sporty sedans with powerful engines, taut suspensions, and great brakes are now the rule, not the exception. There are at least half a dozen excellent cars of this type to choose from, including standouts like the VW Passat and Audi A4 and the Mazda6 and Subaru Legacy GT.

To keep the Maxima near the front of the ever-growing pack is the challenge; whether the changes Nissan's made for 2007 help or hinder that is a call you'll have to make.